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Announcements Exam 2 November 9 th Extra credit opportunity: Friday 11 – 2, Oct. 29, Bring a bag of recyclables - cans, bottles separated from paper - to Library courtyard (Can also bring old cellphones, clothes) –Spend 15-20 minutes getting educated about how to recycle - right now all our recycling is being thrown away because it is contaminated with garbage! –Sign in and get verification that you participated –Write 1 page summary and reaction, for 25 pts
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Solutions to the Human Pop Problem Slow population growth Minimize resource use per person (lifestyle, technology) Sustainable Society
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Ex. Harvesting wood at the rate the forest grows 5 cords of firewood/yr. from a forest that produces 5 or more cords/yr.
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Ex. Annual consumption of clean water = annual supply Harvests of wild species = growth rates Output of pollution that does not exceed capacity of environment to absorb pollutants
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Ex of Unsustainable actions Burning of fossil fuels Over-harvesting of wild species Exceeding earth's capacity to filter pollution Current human population growth
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Which of the following would reduce your ecological footprint? 1.Using less electricity 2.Eating little to no meat 3.Walking instead of driving 4.Using energy efficient technology 5.All of the above
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If the earth was divided evenly among everyone, the average ecological footprint would be 4.5 acres/person. As the population increases, the average size of the ecological footprint will do which of the following? 1.Stay the same 2.Increase 3.Decrease
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Biodiversity: Values, Threats, Solutions I.Values of Biodiversity II.Threats to Biodiversity III.Causes of Current Mass Extinction IV.Saving Biodiversity V.Environmental Conservation
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Biodiversity – a measure of biological diversity It includes # of species genetic diversity within species # of species interactions (predation, etc.) # habitat types, ecosystems, etc.
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How many species are there? There are 1.5 million named species. Possibly 5 – 30 million species on Earth
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Biodiversity is not evenly distributed Places of greater diversity called “hot spots” –tend to be in tropical or Mediterranean climates, on islands, coastlines or mountains
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I. Value of Biodiversity Why care about other species and ecosystems?
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1. Ecological Value Species or ecosystems provide food, shelter, services for other species Species are interdependent
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2. Economic Value Wild species or ecosystems help us make or save money –Medicine, wood –Filtering pollution, flood control
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–Recreation, tourism is worth many billions of dollars.
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Ex. Mountain Gorilla - Economic value if captured, sold or killed - one time sale - not sustainable - Economic value for tourism - worth millions of $$ - may be sustainable "Both sides recognized that... through tourism gorillas were a great economic asset to the country."
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3. Amenity Value Species or ecosystem improves life in a non- material way such as beauty, curiosity, etc.
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4. Intrinsic Value Species of ecosystem has value to itself Has the right to exist
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The Madagascar periwinkle plant used to treat leukemia is best defined as having 1.Ecological Value 2.Economic Value 3.Aesthetic Value 4.Intrinsic Value
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II. Threats to Biodiversity Extinction is natural process 99% of all species are extinct Natural background rate:1-10 species / year
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Mass Extinction Events Over 50% of species are lost http://www.earth.rochester. edu/ees207/Mass_Ext/higg ins_mass2.html Permian extinction K-T extinction
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K-T Extinction: 65 mya 85% of all species living at that time went extinct, including dinosaurs Recovery – it takes 10 -100 million years for # of species to return to the pre-extinction level T. RexMosasaur Ammonite
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Extinction Rates today Human actions are causing species to go extinct Estimates vary –Low: 1 species per day = 365 / year –High: 30,000 species / year Passenger Pigeons Sea Mink Great Auk Eskimo Curlew
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We are in the 6 th Mass Extinction Event 1/3 to 2/3 of all current species could be extinct by 2050.
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